“I just get up there and it just comes naturally. I’m a natural talker,” said Resnick. Pollack & Co. is the only auctioneer to have handled the state unclaimed property auctions, he said.

The first state unclaimed property auction Resnick conducted “had stuff in it from the ’38 hurricane,” such as “wet paper money.” When the flood waters rose in the heart of Providence, “whatever had been held in downtown safe-deposit boxes got wet,” he explained.

While much of the abandoned property comes from safe-deposit boxes and bank accounts, some comes from the state prison and some hospitals.

“A lot of them [inmates] are so happy to get out, they just don’t claim anything,” watches, rings or otherwise, that is taken from them when they enter prison, he said.

Daniel Murray, the state’s unclaimed property administrator, said his office tries to reunite the items with their rightful owners; property goes to auction after all attempts to find owners, or their heirs, fail. “These [properties] have been abandoned for a long, long time,” he said.

“Every day we help someone get their property back,” Murray said. “Sometimes it’s $50, … sometimes it’s $10,000.” He cited the case of a woman “whose electricity was shut off. She was down to her last pennies. Our staff was almost immediately able to help her.”

The state does outreach at farmers’ markets, malls, senior centers and other venues to show people how to access an online unclaimed property database, and twice yearly advertises the items and names of owners, by law.

The proceeds are held for the owner, “if they are ever found,” Murray said. The proceeds sit in the general funds, “but there is always money earmarked in reserve.”

Family disagreements often crop up over unclaimed property. “There’s often somebody who says they’re the only heir,” when they are not.

Murray added: “You can smell if something’s fishy.”

To search the state unclaimed property database, go to treasury.ri.gov.